Penwith Society of Arts

The Penwith Society of Arts is an art group formed in St Ives, Cornwall, England, UK, in early 1949 by abstract artists who broke away from the more conservative St Ives School.^[1] It was originally led by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, and included members of the Crypt Group of the St Ives Society, including Peter Lanyon and Sven Berlin. Other early members included: Leonard Fuller, Isobel Heath, Alexander Mackenzie, John Wells, Bryan Wynter, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, David Haughton, Denis Mitchell, and the printer Guido Morris. Herbert Read was invited to be the first president.^[2]

The group bought fishing lofts along Porthmeor beach to use as artists' studios, after an acrimonious split from the established St Ives Society of Artists. Then on 8 February 1949, after a town meeting at the Castle Inn, a dissident group set up shop in Fore street, St Ives. In 1960 an old pilchard factory was taken over with converted studios above. After ten years of sincere guidance and deep interest, funds were raised by Barbara Hepworth, with the aim of converting adjacent buildings into studios for craft and sculpture as well as painting; these expanded the project still further at Back Road, St Ives. In 1967 Kathleen Watkins was appointed curator and secretary (1967-2013) of the society advising, among other things, clients on potential purchases. ^[3]

Members

As of 2013^[update], the current full members were:

Noel Betowski
Jason Lilley
Naomi Frears
Mary Crockett
Anthony Frost
Sutton Taylor
Simeon Stafford
Rachael Kantaris
Clive Blackmore
Chris Buck

Stephen Clutterbuck
Roy Conn
Margrit Clegg
July Collins
Peter Wray
John Emmanuel
Paul Feiler
Alan John
Liz Hunter
Glyn Walton

Robert Jones
Kathy McNally
June Miles
Kate Nicholson
Daphne McClure
Sheila Oliner
John Piper
Mike Praed

Lieke Ritman
Tommy Rowe
Jennifer Semmens
Vincent Wilson
Mark Verry
Michael Sheppard
Debbie Prosser
Jane Yates
Christine Feiler
Paula Downing
Stephanie Sandercock

References

^ "Penwith Society of Arts | Tate". tate.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
^ "Herbert READ | cornwall artists index". cornwallartists.org. 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
^ Michael Bird (26 September 2013). "Kathleen Watkins". The Guardian. Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

External links

Penwith Society of Arts from the Newlyn fish industry forum
Penwith Society of Arts

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[1] "Penwith Society of Arts | Tate". tate.org.uk. 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

[2] "Herbert READ | cornwall artists index". cornwallartists.org. 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.

[3] Michael Bird (26 September 2013). "Kathleen Watkins". The Guardian. Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

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